Southern California -- this just in

L.A. teachers union protests Times articles

September 14, 2010 | 7:46
pm

Hundreds of Los Angeles Unified School District teachers rallied in front of The Times on Tuesday evening, protesting what they said was unfair reporting in recent articles that used a statistical analysis to compare the performances of thousands of elementary school teachers.

The teachers, many of them wearing red union T-shirts, waved placards that said: “Shame on the L.A. Times,” and “We Demand Fair Reporting.”

As organizers shouted in bullhorns and others stood on a podium that had been set up on the sidewalk, the procession marched in a circle in front of the newspaper building on 1st Street.

Among those marching was elementary school teacher Carrie Folker, who was with her her two daughters, ages 5 and 11.

Folker said her name was included in an online database published by The Times that identified roughly 6,000 third-through-fifth grade teachers. The database ranked them by their effectiveness in improving students' scores on standardized math and English tests during a seven-year period.

“There's a whole lot more that goes into educating children beyond a test score,” said Folker, who teaches at Mayberry Elementary School. “My students and my children are more than one test in one day.”

The reports published in The Times used a value-added analysis to compare the teachers.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Video: Teachers rally in front of The Times in downtown Los Angeles . Credit: Robert J. Lopez / Los Angeles Times